What a single service page must answer before anybody calls

Aug 29
3 min read

Introduction

The service page is three paragraphs long. It explains that the company provides professional solutions tailored to each client's needs, delivered by an experienced team committed to quality.

Somebody landing there from a search has questions: is this for a business like mine, what does it include, how much does it cost, how long does it take, and what happens if I get in touch. None of those are answered, so they go back and open the next result, which usually answers at least two.

1. What a single service page must answer begins with whether it is for them

Qualification comes before persuasion.

State clearly who this suits: the size of business, the type of property, the stage of the problem. Visitors spend the first few seconds deciding whether they are in the right place at all, not whether you are good at what you do. Getting that wrong means the rest of the page is never read.

2. Say what is actually included

Vagueness reads as evasion.

List what the work covers and, just as usefully, what it does not. Specific scope allows somebody to compare you against an alternative, and being comparable is a precondition of being chosen. A page that resists comparison is usually skipped in favour of one that does not.

3. Give some indication of cost

The question every visitor has.

A range, a starting figure, a typical project size or an explanation of what drives the price. Pages that say nothing about money are frequently abandoned by people who would happily have paid.

4. Explain how long it takes

The second question on every call.

Typical timescales, current lead times, and what determines whether something is fast or slow. Somebody with a deadline is filtering on this before anything else you have written.

5. Describe what happens next

Reduce the uncertainty of enquiring.

What a first conversation involves, whether a visit is needed, how long a quotation takes, and whether any of it commits them to anything. Much hesitation about contacting a business is uncertainty about what contact leads to.

6. Show evidence for this specific service

Generic testimonials do less work.

A short example of this work, for a comparable customer, with something concrete about the outcome. One relevant case is worth more than a page of praise about the company in general.

7. Answer the objections rather than avoiding them

They are being raised whether or not you address them.

Why you cost more, why the timescale is what it is, what happens if it goes wrong. Answering these in your own words is far better than leaving somebody to resolve them by choosing a competitor.

8. Make contacting you easy from the page

Do not send people hunting.

A form, a number and an obvious action, present without returning to the menu. A visitor persuaded halfway down the page should not have to navigate anywhere to act on it.

9. Write one page per service

Separation beats consolidation.

A single page covering five services ranks for none of them well and answers each partially. Each distinct service that customers search for separately deserves a page that answers these questions in full.

Read the page as though you had never heard of the company. The gap between what it says and what somebody would need to know before spending money is usually obvious within a minute, and it is almost always the same set of missing answers.

Conclusion

Answer the questions asked on a first telephone call, because those are the questions the page is being read to answer.

State who the service is for before describing it, list what is included and excluded, give some indication of cost even if it is a range, explain typical timescales, describe what happens after an enquiry so contacting you feels low risk, show evidence specific to this service, address objections directly, make it possible to act without navigating away, and give each service its own page.